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Center for Chest Wall Reconstruction

Golisano Children's Hospital / Pediatric Surgery - Surgical Specialties / Center for Chest Wall Reconstruction / Mindfulness and Meditation Resources

Mindfulness & Meditation Resources

The management of post-operative pain has remained a challenge in patients undergoing minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum. We use a multimodal approach that includes preoperative medications, post-operative medications, and intraoperative nerve blocks and cryoablation. Patient preparation for surgery, where we discuss what to expect, how to manage pain, and the negative impact that anxiety can have on your post-operative experience and recovery, has been shown to further decrease length of stay in the hospital and improve the postoperative experience.

Anxiety can have a significant negative impact on patient experience and recovery.

Mindfulness is the ability to know what is happening in your head at any given moment without getting carried away by it.

Anxiety is the experience where your attention is focused upon something that has already happened or something that may possibly happen in the future (e.g., catastrophizing).

Many people worry (or have anxiety) about how they will feel after surgery. Will I have pain after surgery?

Mindfulness has been shown to help control those worries and to decrease anxiety by drawing your attention to your breathing and consciously observing sensations experienced in your body during times when you are feeling anxious or are worrying. Mindfulness helps you learn to accept what you are experiencing without adding the anxiety.

We suggest exploring the idea of mindfulness and meditation before surgery, as practice will help build up your mental “muscles.” Having fit muscles (mental or otherwise) will help you through the post-operative period. Try meditating 5-10 minutes per day for the month before surgery. These resources can help you get started.

Resources

Apps

The Mindfulness App, Headspace, Calm, MINDBODY, Buddhify, Insight Timer, Smiling Mind,  Meditation Timer Pro, Sattva, Stop, Breathe & Think, 10% Happier, Breethe, Simply Being, Omvana

Books

  • “Sitting Still Like a Frog: Mindfulness Exercises for Kids (and Their Parents)” by Eline Snel (2013)
  • “10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works” by Dan Harris (2014)
  •  50 Best Mindfulness Books

Websites

  • Calm Blog: Free downloadable journals, guidebooks, and calendars to help foster a mindfulness practice in your life.
  • Thich Nhat Hanh on the practice of mindfulness: Five mindful practices provided by Thich Nhat Hanh - a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, activist, author, poet, and teacher who is recognized as the "father of mindfulness."
  • Mindful.org: A large variety of mindful content including articles, script/audio/video meditations, mindful movements, breathwork, and directories for mindful coaches and events. Categories include: How to Meditate, Focus, Calm, Sleep, Movement, Compassion, Kids, and Anxiety.
  • Guided meditations from UCLA: An assortment of guided mediation audio/scripts in English, Armenian, Cantonese, Farsi, Filipino, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Mixtec, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, and American Sign Language
  • University of California Mindfulness and compassion resources: Poetry, meditations, body scans, and mindful movement offerings. Some resources available in various languages
  • Mindfulness Exercises: An assortment of free mindfulness exercises in the form of courses, worksheets, video, and audio files

YouTube

Research

  • Progressive reduction of hospital length of stay following minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum: A retrospective comparison of three analgesia modalities, the role of addressing patient anxiety, and reframing patient expectations. Marc G Schlatter, Long V Nguyen, Maria Tecos, Elle L Kalbfell, Omar Gonzalez-Vega, Tedi Vlahu. Journal of Pediatric Surgery. 2019; Vol. 54, Issue 4, pages 663–669.
  • Can Mindfulness Meditation Really Reduce Pain and Suffering?